Guard to face court in slayings of girlfriend, son

A Monroe County Prison guard who sports several Nazi tattoos told police he gunned down his girlfriend and 2-year-old son earlier this month in a jealous rage after she came home late, according to court testimony Tuesday.

During a preliminary hearing for 23-year-old Michael John Parrish, state police Cpl. Shawn Williams said Parrish confronted his girlfriend, 21-year-old Victoria Adams, with a gun after she returned to the couple's Effort apartment around 11 p.m. July 6, apparently after a night of partying.

Parrish told police he "completely emptied his gun" into Adams and their son, Sidney, Williams said.

After the testimony, District Judge Debby York of Brodheadsville ruled there was enough evidence to send homicide and other charges against Parrish to Monroe County Court.

This is what Parrish told police about the shootings, according to Williams' testimony:

Parrish, who is covered with tattoos that include swastikas and other Nazi symbols, said Adams was supposed to return home around 6 p.m. after a day at a casino with a friend. He stayed home watching Sidney, a heart transplant recipient, and when Adams didn't return on time or answer her cell phone, he began calling her friends to see where she was.

One friend told him Adams had just been at her house and was on her way home. Parrish said he was convinced she was cheating because he could hear music and several voices -- a sign she was partying. Parrish told police Adams, who authorities say also had Nazi tattoos and was a white supremacist, arrived home five hours after she was supposed to and had smeared lipstick and bare feet. She was also with three other men.

Parrish said he had a confrontation with one of the three men and both drew guns. He left the standoff to confront Adams, who was in their son's bedroom. Parrish said he first fired a shot into the ceiling "to get her attention" as Adams held their child. Parrish then fired at her chest, striking Adams and the child, the trooper said. Then Parrish told police he went back and forth shooting the mother and child as they lay on the floor, unloading a total of 14 rounds.

Parrish said someone shot into his home after he shot Adams and his son and said he fired 10 rounds from a shotgun. It's unclear if police found any evidence of any shots fired into the home.

Police say Parrish called his friend, 23-year-old Conrad Jankowski of Newfoundland, Wayne County, and they headed to Maine to escape. Police say they tracked calls made between the men just before the escape.

When the men got to New Hampshire on July 7, 356 miles from Effort, they realized they needed a belt replaced in their car, police say. They stopped at a gas station and asked if they could sleep there, and a gas station worker called police to tell them the two men would be sleeping in the parking lot overnight. Police ran the license plate, which came back to Jankowski.

Parrish was charged July 8 with two counts of homicide and multiple counts of aggravated assault and attempted homicide. Jankowski was charged with hindering Parrish's arrest. Parrish, represented by Monroe County public defender William Sayer, didn't speak during Tuesday's hearing. Sayer didn't argue to have charges dismissed.

According to Monroe prison officials, Parrish was hired as a correctional officer in March. They said like all other county employees, he underwent a background check before he was hired and it came back clean. His employment status with Monroe County could not be verified Tuesday.

Because of his employment with Monroe, Parrish is being held in Carbon County Prison.